421TOPIC 7.1 19TH-CENTURY PERSPECTIVES AND POLITICAL DEVELOPMENTS

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421TOPIC 7.1 19TH-CENTURY PERSPECTIVES AND POLITICAL DEVELOPMENTS UNIT 7: 19th-Century Perspectives and Political Developments c. 1815 to c. 1914 Topic 7.1 Contextualizing 19th-Century Perspectives and Political Developments Essential Question: What was the context in which nationalistic and imperialistic sentiments developed in Europe from 1815 to 1914? The changes in European society because of the Enlightenment, the French Revolution, and the Industrial Revolution were the context for a new Europe in the 19th century. In particular, industrialization had radically changed how goods were produced and how all classes of Europeans lived. By 1815, Europe’s growing industrial working class and rising urban middle class had new ideologies, wanted more freedoms, and pushed for changes to existing political structures. As the lives of Europeans changed, so did political beliefs. Liberal ideology held that individuals should be free from an overbearing government and able to own private property. Liberalism and socialism could be seen in the reform movements that wanted to extend voting rights and redistribute societies wealth and resources. As liberalism grew, conservatives sou...